Khojaly tragedy: 20 years on

20 years have passed since the occupation of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly by Armenian troops and the ethnic purge conducted by them. This massacre claimed the lives of 613 people, including women, children and elderly people. Thousands of people were injured. 8 families were completely annihilated, 25 children became orphans and 130 lost one parent. 1275 civilians were taken hostage, 150 of them are still missing. The Khojaly tragedy is one of the most horrifying events in the modern history of Azerbaijan, and it isn’t surprising that many Azerbaijani public figures insist that the events of 26 February 1992 should be recognized by the international community as a genocide of the Azerbaijani people.

A great deal of work has been done over the past few years: Leila Aliyeva’s ‘Justice for Khojaly’ campaign kicked off in February 2009, and now this initiative is active in 30 countries. The main purpose of this international media campaign is to tell the world the truth of the crimes against humanity committed in Khojaly. More than 70 events have been held all around the world, some of them in the offices of such international organizations as the UN.

This year the commemorative events will be held on an even larger scale. Several flash-mobs will be held and the Russian version of the ‘Justice for Khojaly’ project will be launched (www.justiceforkhojaly.org).
As the result of all the efforts, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Islamic Cooperation Organization called on the parliaments of the member-states of the Union to recognize the Khojaly massacre as the Khojaly Genocide and promote this recognition on an international scale. Today the ICO consists of 51 members with a total population of 1.5 billion people. The latest resolution of the ICO Parliamentary Assembly is the first international official document to give a political and legal assessment of the Khojaly tragedy, naming it an act of genocide. The ICO comprises one quarter of the world’s parliaments, so the official application of the term ‘genocide’ by its Parliamentary Assembly is an important step towards international recognition of the Khojaly massacre as genocide and towards punishing those responsible for it.

This mission is very important for the Azerbaijani government. Back in 1994, President Heydar Aliyev issued a special order naming 26 February a Day of National Mourning. Today the task of gaining international recognition of the Khojaly Genocide has moved ahead considerably: the Turkish Parliament has discussed it several times, while Russia, the US, Italy, Switzerland and the UK hold annual events commemorating the tragedy. This week the Senate of Pakistan recognized the Khojaly events as a genocide of the Azerbaijani people. The document also condemns the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories and calls on the Armenian government to follow the UN resolution on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as punish those responsible for the genocide.

Earlier, the Senate of Mexico recognized the Khojali Genocide and stressed the importance of the return of refugees to their homes in the occupied territories, as well as calling on the conflicting parties to observe the Madrid Principles.  

During the winter session of PACE a written address condemning the Khojaly genocide was distributed among the delegates. The paper was prepared by the Azerbaijani delegation and was signed by representatives of many countries. Also, an inter-parliamentary working group, ‘Azerbaijan-Belgium’, is now working on including the Khojaly Genocide discussion on the Belgian Parliament’s agenda.

Our common efforts will help the world discover the truth about the massacre in a small Azerbaijani town and immortalize the memory of the tragedy’s victims.